B.C. locations listed among top beer cities in Canada

An Okanagan city holds its rank in second place on the Expedia.ca list of the Best Beer Town in Canada for the second year in a row.

The 2018 edition ranks 17 towns across Canada from Abbotsford to Guysborough, Nova Scotia using a scale of how many breweries and brewpubs can be found in the city, awards and their originality for crating unique flavours and building a brand following.

“When it comes to small towns with big beer scenes, Penticton still dominates. Cannery Brewing Co. picked up some new silver and bronze medals in the 2018 awards season for Heist Maple Stout and Thornless fruit beer; Bad Tattoo Brewing took home Best Pilsner at this year’s Fest of Ale. What’s the Fest of Ale? Well, if you have to ask, we question your dedication to the craft, but we’ll humour you. It’s an amazing and super-popular beerfest that takes place in Penticton every April. There are plenty more events in this thriving community, too, like the Penticton Beer Run, which happens in June, or a beer crawl along the Penticton arm of the B.C. Ale Trail. Needless to say, you’ll have some epic tales of tannins and esters after a visit to this sessionable city,” says the post about Penticton.

“Abbotsford is probably most famous for BC Hop Fest (taking place Sept. 29 this year), but let us drop some new knowledge on you: it has amazing fruit beers. Old Abbey Ales has a raspberry sour and blueberry ale on tap, while Ravens Brewing Company won gold at the World Beer Cup and bronze at the BC Beer Awards for its Corvus Lingonberry Lime Gose. You should also check out Field House Brewing’s limited edition beers, which have included Pinor Noir IPA and Whisky Sour Ale. In Abbotsford, the more flavourful, the better,” said the Expedia post.

Jumping in at number 11 is Nelson, the only other B.C. city on the list.

“There’s no two ways about it: the Canadian craft beer industry is booming in B.C. Backroads Brewing in Nelson is a perfect example — they just opened in 2017 and the Marzen already won gold at the B.C. Beer Awards. Over at Nelson Brewing Co., try the Face Plant Winter Ale and the Hooligan Pilsner if you know what’s good for you. Wanna get weird? Torchlight Brewing participated in Gruit Day this year, releasing a limited edition gruit — that’s beer brewed with herbs and spices instead of hops, and it’s definitely unique,” said the review.